Spread, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading.] Etym: [OE. spreden, AS. sprædan; akin to D. spreiden, spreijen, LG. spreden, spreen, spreien, G. spreiten, Dan. sprede, Sw. sprida. Cf. Spray water flying in drops.]
1. To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl; as, to spread a carpet; to spread a tent or a sail. He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent. Gen. xxxiii. 19. Here the Rhone Hath spread himself a couch. Byron.
2. To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great or grater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or cover a wide or wider space. Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread Their branches hung with copious fruit. Milton.
3. To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known fully; as, to spread a report; -- often acompanied by abroad. They, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Matt. ix. 31.
4. To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to spread a disease.
5. To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance.
6. To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure; to spread lime on the ground.
7. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to spread a table. Boiled the flesh, and spread the board. Tennyson. To sprad cloth, to unfurl sail. [Obs.] Evelyn.
Syn.
– To diffuse; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.
Spread, v. i.
1. To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand. Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall. Bacon. Govrnor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading tree. B. Trumbull.
2. To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals spread with difficulty.
3. To be made known more extensively, as news.
4. To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease spread into all parts of the city. Shak.
Spread, n.
1. Extent; compass. I have got a fine spread of improvable land. Addison.
2. Expansion of parts. No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine. Bacon.
3. A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed.
4. A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast. [Colloq.]
5. A privilege which one person buys of another, of demanding certain shares of stock at a certain price, or of delivering the same shares of stock at another price, within a time agreed upon. [Broker's Cant]
6. (Geom.)
Definition: An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.
Spread,
Definition: imp. & p. p. of Spread, v. Spread eagle. (a) An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the United States. (b) The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended; often met as a device upon military ornaments, and the like. (c) (Her.) An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and legs extended on each side of the body, as in the double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See Displayed, 2.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
25 November 2024
(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America
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